Revisiting Old Ideas, Researchers Gain Entirely New View of Fluid Dynamics
Fluid dynamics generally lends itself to the study of fluids themselves, but by revisiting the theories of an 18th-century scientist, researchers have found that studying invisible barriers that form between moving fluids may be far more enlightening than studying the actual fluids. Governing the movements of everything from the oceans to the air flow over a wing, so-called Lagrangian coherent structures are the “skeletons of the sea and air,” and are changing the way scientists understand and apply fluid dynamics, according to a report in the Economist. Joseph-Louis Lagrange was one of the first to study modern fluid dynamics, but his theories were far ahead of the technology of his day. Now, using supercomputers, researchers are finding intricate structures that emerge between moving fluids that were previously unthinkable, visible only via complex mathematical calculations. Related ArticlesAnd the Oscar Goes To: Fluid Simulation Algorithms!Fluid Density and YouFluid FocusTagsScience, Clay Dillow, aerodynamics, fluid dynamics,...